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New Watch for us being designed

Hello all and Happy New Year,
Please spread the word to all Z8 enthusiasts that a special Z8 automatic chronometer is being designed for us. The details, including designs, will be coming within the next few weeks. This will be a limited run and marked with serial numbers or possibly with VIN numbers of the specific car. The cost is projected to be about 2K.
Skicoach (Chris)

Will not be giving out any details until design is done. Trying to avoid a million different suggestions by people that have never designed a watch. It should be special and a rare opportunity. The designer is a VERY experienced guy who is a BMW fanatic. We'll all have to wait and see.

I hope it's not like the BMW CCA timepieces. Big, fancy dials with bells and whistles and levers and buttons. You can't tell what time it is, of course, but you're stylin'.

I read the write-up on the Heuer Sebring rally clock in SCM last month and was moved to write about it for Hemmings, because halfway through the article, I realized that the writer had absolutely no idea of how to use a Sebring to actually, you know, run a rally! Jeez Louise. It turns out that after all these years I got lore!

Wow very impressive and good looking indeed, can you explain a bit and share more of this Andrew ? I wonder why the clocks are positioned as they are, seems to me the two on the bottom should be on the left to make the handling a bit easier, but perhaps that's not the case.

Eric, I really don't know the exact reason for the placements, it is all a bit lost in the sands of time, but Agnelli had the car specially commissioned (as all the 400SA's were) to his desire, and it was primarily as a car to do driving events, like the Mille Miglia. I don't know if it ever did, but that was the idea behind it. This is the view in through the sealed sun/moon roof.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

Perfection, but the car being late 50's, I wonder what's oem and what's added later ? For sure that sunroof wasn't a 50's item. It's a bit like a really old castle, built in a certain era and reshaped for the better (I hope) during time...

I'm sure it won't hurt sharing it's history here, so this tells you pretty much all there is to know....

This car, the first 400 Superamerica, was initially unveiled on the Pinin Farina stand at the 41st Annual Torino Motor Show in November 1959. When the 400 Superamerica was officially launched on Ferrari’s stand two months later at the January 1960 Brussels Motor Show it was shown in Cabriolet form. The Superamerica name came from its predecessor, the 410, and denoted that it was Ferrari’s flagship model, making it far more prestigious and exclusive than the various 250 GT models of the era. The 400 Superamerica was sold as an entirely custom built car with absolute confidentiality. Each one reflected its individual owner’s specific desires and personal specifications, thus no two are alike. The late Ferrari expert Antoine Prunet said of them in his famous book Ferrari: The Road Cars, “…the confidential manner of the construction and sale of these special cars was the reason that the transition from the 410 to 400 Superamerica seemed to have passed almost unnoticed by most observers. But this 400 was an entirely new Superamerica.”

Designed from the outset to provide a sportier and more satisfying driving experience than its predecessor, the 400 Superamerica was built on a shorter chassis derived from the 250, with welcome updates including all wheel disc brakes, a fully-synchronized four speed gearbox with overdrive and telescopic shock absorbers. The new Superamerica was powered by an enlarged development of the Colombo V12 engine, now displacing 4.0 liters and fitted with three Weber twin-choke carburetors. It produced similar power to the previous Lampredi long block engine but delivered far more low end torque. It was also designed to be easier to maintain. The Superamerica’s 400 designation broke with Ferrari’s previous naming convention of measuring the swept area of one cylinder, and instead reflected its 4.0 liter engine capacity and its factory claimed 400 horsepower rating. The Colombo V12 was more honestly rated at 340 bhp, but that still made the 400 Superamerica the fastest road car of the time with a potential to a speed in excess of 160 mph.

The 400 Superamerica was not only the most exotic high performance automobile of the era, it was also the most expensive, selling for double the price of a contemporary Rolls-Royce. Production ran from 1959 to early 1964 with published sources dividing the forty-six 400 Superamericas made into two basic groups. The first twenty-five cars, retrospectively known as the Series I, were based on a slightly shorter 2420 millimeter wheelbase length. This singular 400 SA, chassis number 1517 SA, is the first of the Series I and the only example to have this unique Pinin Farina body.

True to its intended market, the first owner of 1517 SA was the Italian business titan and social icon, Gianni Agnelli, who would later become the chairman of Fiat. 1517 SA has been described by Ferrari experts as something of a prototype, given the Tipo 163 engine’s unique combination of internal components, carburetion, and exhaust system. 1517 SA was sent to Pinin Farina on July 30, 1959 for its daring one off coachwork. Agnelli’s new Ferrari echoed several styling cues drawn from his previous Pinin Farina bodied 375 America Coupé, including the panoramic or wraparound windshield, forward sloped A-pillars and the clear Aerlux sunroof. Other unique design cues were the rally inspired stainless steel siding, a square radiator grille with slender quarter bumpers at each corner and quad headlamps, which would later be seen on Ferrari’s own 330 GT 2+2 and on both the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III and Silver Shadow. The Agnelli Coupé’s slanted, triple taillights would later appear on the Ferrari 250 GTE. The interior of this Superamerica reflects the importance of the long distance driving events of the era, such as the Mille Miglia, with a full complement of Veglia instruments, a large Jaeger chronometric clock and matched pair of Heuer stopwatches. It also had a unique custom steering wheel with inlaid black spokes and a special shift knob.

This 400 Superamerica Coupé Speciale was first displayed by Pinin Farina at the Torino Motor Show in November 1959, two months prior to the showing of the first production 400 Superamerica in Brussels. A number of revisions were then made to 1517 SA at Sig. Agnelli’s request. Among them were subtle updates to the grille, the replacement of the original twin front bumpers with a single bumper following the line of the lower edge of the grille, reupholstered seats, and the addition of a slender trim piece to the car’s upper flanks in the green and blue of the Agnelli family colors.

During the time 1517 SA was being customized at Pinin Farina it was used in a series of glamorous promotional photographs and displayed at the March 1960 Geneva Motor Show before finally being delivered to Sig. Agnelli in June 1960. It was registered in Torino as TO 333333 and driven by Sig. Agnelli for two years before being sold to Giuseppe Cornacchia of Milan. He famously gifted 1517 SA to La Dolce Vita movie star Anita Ekberg, and she kept it until May 1966, selling it to Mario Rossi of Torino. During its two years with him the car was serviced at the factory where it was recorded that 1517 SA had covered just 35,842 km. In 1968 Sig. Rossi sold 1517 SA to Ferrari’s official dealer in Milan, Sig. Crepaldi. He sold it to the Connecticut based U.S. Ferrari importer, Luigi Chinetti Motors in 1969. This unique Ferrari then passed through two owners before going to Gilbert Ranney of Santa Ana, California. He stored the car for the next eight years with the idea he would restore it, but in November 1982 he donated 1517 SA to the Harrah Automobile Collection. The Harrah Collection then sold it in 1986 and in 1997 1517 SA finally commenced the restoration Mr Ranney had so wanted to do. The painstaking restoration lasted seven years and returned 1517 SA to its current spectacular condition, which is also exactly the state it would have been delivered to Sig. Agnelli in back in June of 1960.

Since the restoration 1517 SA has been displayed in some of the world’s most prestigious classic automotive events, including its debut at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. That was followed by appearances at The Quail Motorsports Gathering in 2005, 2010, and 2011. 1517 SA went back to Europe to be shown at the Concorso d’Eleganza at the Villa d’Este in 2009 as well as being displayed at Galleria Ferrari in Maranello. In January 2013 1517 SA earned Platinum Honors at the XXII Cavallino Classic, then in May 2013 took Best of Show at the FCA Concours in Pasadena, California, prior to joining this collection later that year. 1517 SA has both Ferrari Classiche certification and the all important Red Book. Depicted in many of the top Ferrari texts and steeped in outstanding history and provenance, 1517 SA remains a stunning example of Pinin Farina’s forward thinking and influential custom coachwork built on one of the most exclusive Ferrari chassis of the era.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

The painstaking restoration lasted seven years and returned 1517 SA to its current spectacular condition, which is also exactly the state it would have been delivered to Sig. Agnelli in back in June of 1960.

If anyone would have told me it was some retro-car I would have believed it, timeless design with some amazing parts I would not expect on a late 50's early 60's car ir stil looks very modern in retro kind of way (guess that's because it's an original, hahaha)

My friend restored this car at his Ferrari shop in LA. I watched it go from shell to Pebble Beach Concours.

Originally Posted by macfly

I'm sure it won't hurt sharing it's history here, so this tells you pretty much all there is to know....

This car, the first 400 Superamerica, was initially unveiled on the Pinin Farina stand at the 41st Annual Torino Motor Show in November 1959. When the 400 Superamerica was officially launched on Ferrari’s stand two months later at the January 1960 Brussels Motor Show it was shown in Cabriolet form. The Superamerica name came from its predecessor, the 410, and denoted that it was Ferrari’s flagship model, making it far more prestigious and exclusive than the various 250 GT models of the era. The 400 Superamerica was sold as an entirely custom built car with absolute confidentiality. Each one reflected its individual owner’s specific desires and personal specifications, thus no two are alike. The late Ferrari expert Antoine Prunet said of them in his famous book Ferrari: The Road Cars, “…the confidential manner of the construction and sale of these special cars was the reason that the transition from the 410 to 400 Superamerica seemed to have passed almost unnoticed by most observers. But this 400 was an entirely new Superamerica.”

Designed from the outset to provide a sportier and more satisfying driving experience than its predecessor, the 400 Superamerica was built on a shorter chassis derived from the 250, with welcome updates including all wheel disc brakes, a fully-synchronized four speed gearbox with overdrive and telescopic shock absorbers. The new Superamerica was powered by an enlarged development of the Colombo V12 engine, now displacing 4.0 liters and fitted with three Weber twin-choke carburetors. It produced similar power to the previous Lampredi long block engine but delivered far more low end torque. It was also designed to be easier to maintain. The Superamerica’s 400 designation broke with Ferrari’s previous naming convention of measuring the swept area of one cylinder, and instead reflected its 4.0 liter engine capacity and its factory claimed 400 horsepower rating. The Colombo V12 was more honestly rated at 340 bhp, but that still made the 400 Superamerica the fastest road car of the time with a potential to a speed in excess of 160 mph.

The 400 Superamerica was not only the most exotic high performance automobile of the era, it was also the most expensive, selling for double the price of a contemporary Rolls-Royce. Production ran from 1959 to early 1964 with published sources dividing the forty-six 400 Superamericas made into two basic groups. The first twenty-five cars, retrospectively known as the Series I, were based on a slightly shorter 2420 millimeter wheelbase length. This singular 400 SA, chassis number 1517 SA, is the first of the Series I and the only example to have this unique Pinin Farina body.

True to its intended market, the first owner of 1517 SA was the Italian business titan and social icon, Gianni Agnelli, who would later become the chairman of Fiat. 1517 SA has been described by Ferrari experts as something of a prototype, given the Tipo 163 engine’s unique combination of internal components, carburetion, and exhaust system. 1517 SA was sent to Pinin Farina on July 30, 1959 for its daring one off coachwork. Agnelli’s new Ferrari echoed several styling cues drawn from his previous Pinin Farina bodied 375 America Coupé, including the panoramic or wraparound windshield, forward sloped A-pillars and the clear Aerlux sunroof. Other unique design cues were the rally inspired stainless steel siding, a square radiator grille with slender quarter bumpers at each corner and quad headlamps, which would later be seen on Ferrari’s own 330 GT 2+2 and on both the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III and Silver Shadow. The Agnelli Coupé’s slanted, triple taillights would later appear on the Ferrari 250 GTE. The interior of this Superamerica reflects the importance of the long distance driving events of the era, such as the Mille Miglia, with a full complement of Veglia instruments, a large Jaeger chronometric clock and matched pair of Heuer stopwatches. It also had a unique custom steering wheel with inlaid black spokes and a special shift knob.

This 400 Superamerica Coupé Speciale was first displayed by Pinin Farina at the Torino Motor Show in November 1959, two months prior to the showing of the first production 400 Superamerica in Brussels. A number of revisions were then made to 1517 SA at Sig. Agnelli’s request. Among them were subtle updates to the grille, the replacement of the original twin front bumpers with a single bumper following the line of the lower edge of the grille, reupholstered seats, and the addition of a slender trim piece to the car’s upper flanks in the green and blue of the Agnelli family colors.

During the time 1517 SA was being customized at Pinin Farina it was used in a series of glamorous promotional photographs and displayed at the March 1960 Geneva Motor Show before finally being delivered to Sig. Agnelli in June 1960. It was registered in Torino as TO 333333 and driven by Sig. Agnelli for two years before being sold to Giuseppe Cornacchia of Milan. He famously gifted 1517 SA to La Dolce Vita movie star Anita Ekberg, and she kept it until May 1966, selling it to Mario Rossi of Torino. During its two years with him the car was serviced at the factory where it was recorded that 1517 SA had covered just 35,842 km. In 1968 Sig. Rossi sold 1517 SA to Ferrari’s official dealer in Milan, Sig. Crepaldi. He sold it to the Connecticut based U.S. Ferrari importer, Luigi Chinetti Motors in 1969. This unique Ferrari then passed through two owners before going to Gilbert Ranney of Santa Ana, California. He stored the car for the next eight years with the idea he would restore it, but in November 1982 he donated 1517 SA to the Harrah Automobile Collection. The Harrah Collection then sold it in 1986 and in 1997 1517 SA finally commenced the restoration Mr Ranney had so wanted to do. The painstaking restoration lasted seven years and returned 1517 SA to its current spectacular condition, which is also exactly the state it would have been delivered to Sig. Agnelli in back in June of 1960.

Since the restoration 1517 SA has been displayed in some of the world’s most prestigious classic automotive events, including its debut at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. That was followed by appearances at The Quail Motorsports Gathering in 2005, 2010, and 2011. 1517 SA went back to Europe to be shown at the Concorso d’Eleganza at the Villa d’Este in 2009 as well as being displayed at Galleria Ferrari in Maranello. In January 2013 1517 SA earned Platinum Honors at the XXII Cavallino Classic, then in May 2013 took Best of Show at the FCA Concours in Pasadena, California, prior to joining this collection later that year. 1517 SA has both Ferrari Classiche certification and the all important Red Book. Depicted in many of the top Ferrari texts and steeped in outstanding history and provenance, 1517 SA remains a stunning example of Pinin Farina’s forward thinking and influential custom coachwork built on one of the most exclusive Ferrari chassis of the era.

I'm thinking that they're for different rally sections on the Mille Miglia, one for the white day, they other for each section? Just a guess? In a few weeks I'll have the books delivered, and I'll share more of the pictures.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

Kewl. Well, for a TSD rally, you want a master time (such as, oh, I don't know, maybe a Heuer Master Time!) and a flyback split-second watch like the one on the right. But if you're doing minutes-per-mile computations, then the split watch should have a decimal dial for easier calculations. You know, as in, "We should have crossed that line at 10.75 minutes, but we hit it at 10.81, so you're six down." Of course, .75 minutes is 45 seconds, so if you're fairly adroit, you can fake it—"we should have hit it at 10:45, but you crossed it closer to 10:49." (Note that these are minutes, not hours; if we don't know what the hour is, this is not the game for us. The Master Time tells us the hour and also provides a base line if we have to re-start the split watch.)

Heuer's best flyback split was probably the Heuer Sebring, which had a decimal dial (and a regular 60-second scale as an inner ring.) In the Olden Times, a good man with a Curta calculator, a Halda odometer, and a Heuer Sebring could generally beat the primitive rally computers that were available in that era.

Heard from DWC today. He is working on final design of his new 42mm design from which the Z8 watch will be based. Please spread the word as he will need commitments from 100 clients to make it happen. This will be a very cool opportunity. Is there someone that knows the president of the international club to gauge interest as well?

The last thing I need is another big-ass clunky watch with zillions of levers and cogs that do everything but make it possible for me to tell what time it is. Give me a flyback-split second hand and a decimal dial and I'm in. (Think of somebody making a watch that you could actually use for rally timing!)

For what it is worth, I am thrilled with my M1 timepiece from the DWC and would strongly consider another one. DWC is receiving more recognition too for their designs with recent articles in Forbes and this one in Automobile Magazine. http://www.automobilemag.com/news/de...ograph-review/

Originally Posted by skicoach

Heard from DWC today. He is working on final design of his new 42mm design from which the Z8 watch will be based. Please spread the word as he will need commitments from 100 clients to make it happen. This will be a very cool opportunity. Is there someone that knows the president of the international club to gauge interest as well?